Everyman’s Hut

Camp News, Volume 3, Issue 131, 17 July 1942, Page 8

Everyman’s Hut

"IN THE HAND OF THE POTTER” Being the substance of an address by Mr. J. O. Sanders, which we purpose continuing in subsequent issues of the “Camp News.” ‘The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hands of the potter so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. •' , ■ Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 0 House of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? Saith the Lord, Behold, ; as the. clay is in the potter’s hands, so are ye in My hand. 0 house of Israel.’Jeremiah, Chap. 18; verses I—6. ‘ ' - ‘To the Potter’s house I went down one day, And watched him while moulding a vessel of clay, And many a wonderful lesson I drew, As I noted the process the clay passed through. . / ' Trampled and broken, downtrodden and rolled, To render it plastic and fit for the mould. How like the clay that is human, I thought, Which in heavenly hands to God’s image is brought, For self, must be cast as the dust at His feet, ■ Ere man is renewed and. for service made meet, And pride must be broken and self-

will lost— All laid on the altar, whatever the cost; And all that is boasted of human display Must yield to God’s hand and be taken away.’ , Jeremiah, the Patriot, is heartbroken. Despite his tears and entreaties, his beloved nation is drifting farther and farther from God. He has exhausted himself in his endeavours to save them from destruction,, but all to no avail. At this crisis God gives His grief-stricken prophet a vision of hope in the potter’s house. The sign of the potter doubtless had primary reference to the nation of Israel, which had persistently resisted, and thwarted the Divine purpose, but even at this late hour, marred though the nation was, God gives a vision of possibility. If even now they will submit to their Potter’s touch, He will make of them “another vessel” as seems good to Him.. But the parable has also an individual application to which we shall now turn. “Go down into the potter’s house,” the Lord had said to the prophet, “and I will cause thee to hear my words.”" And what did he see in the potter’s house He sees The Potter with his master mind, well-versed in his art, surrounded by vessels of beauty and utility, the work of his own hands. Next his eyes light on The Wheel, a round piece of board set horizontally on topof a revolving spindle, moving now faster, new slower, according to the pressure of his foot on the treadle. Then in. the potter’s hand he sees The Clay, a thing of no inherent beauty, helpless to improve its condition, but capable of receiving and retaining the design wrought by the potter. As the prophet, obedient to the heavenly command stands by the potter’s side, he sees 1. The Vessel Made. (To be continued.)